Exploring the Role of Technology in Enhancing Slot Gaming Experience
Ask any online casino for its game popularity stats and which games generate the highest revenue, and most casinos will show that online slots are at the top of the pile. As for the land industry, slots are also some of the most popular games, but in terms of revenue, the stats between table game and video slot game revenue are not as consistent as those in the online casino sphere.
Why are online slots continuing to outplay other casino games?
The simple answer is that slot gaming continues to engage players as the games evolve in tandem with technology advancing and new innovative ideas coming from slot developers. To be clear, slot providers are the brands that create online slot games and not the casinos. The deal is that software providers create B2B deals with casinos and then deliver their games to the casino platforms via a game delivery system.
Pragmatic Play and Relax Gaming are some of the most popular software provider brands that are creating innovations in online slots. Close to 300 software providers create slots, so when you visit an online casino, the games come from these innovative game developer studios. They harness the power of new technology and brainstorm innovative features to add diversity to the slot gaming arena, including new reel mechanics and features.
Evolving Mobile Technology
We can attribute the evolution of improved online slot and video slot gameplay to improved mobile technology. Thanks to faster mobile internet speeds, improved processing speeds, and larger RAM capabilities in smartphones, game developers can create more engaging mobile slot gameplay. In the sections below, we’ll discuss reel mechanics and slot features.
For those of you wondering what RAM is, it is a chip in your smartphone that stores temporary information. The long form name is Random Access Memory. To explain further, when you open an app, it will use the RAM on your phone. Therefore, the more apps you have open, the more RAM it uses. If your phone is running slow, usually the trick to solve this issue is to close open apps simply, and voila, your phone speed increases.
Today’s newer Smartphones come with 4GB and 12 GB of RAM for the more expensive models. 4GB is still a decent amount to run any mobile slot game and keep your email and other apps open. With this in mind, slot developers can create more graphically and feature-intense games.
On average, complex slots with high-end graphics will only use around an estimated 250MB to 500MB of RAM. This is bearing in mind the Android iOS will use roughly 1.5GB to 2GB of your RAM to run on your phone. Still, that leaves plenty of space for software providers to create games with more animations and high-quality graphics, plus include new reel mechanics and features.
Why is the Focus on Mobile?
This is a great question. Let’s put it this way. Desktop technology is so advanced that even older processors in a PC or laptop can outperform most smartphone processors. Slots don’t need to use a huge amount of RAM or processing speed, and with PC and laptop tech, which are far more advanced than mini tech used in smartphones, slot developers can focus on mobile performance to attract a higher number of smartphone players.
Mobile Tech is Becoming More Affordable
To beef up the point we are making in this article, mobile technology is also becoming more affordable. A smartphone with 4GB of RAM may be one of the cheaper models, but these phone can still handle even the most intense slot games without lag.
New Reel Mechanics and Features
Reel mechanics are quite literally how the reels of a slot function. This includes online slots, video slot cabinets in land-based casinos, and other brick-and-mortar slot gaming venues. Even if you don’t play slots, you likely understand the concept of pay lines. This reel machine involves lining up symbols on a pay line to win. Although pay line slots are still produced in droves, slot technology has come a long way.
Thanks to the innovative minds of those working for software providers, there are now several new ways to play slots. In particular, the evolution of no-pay line reel mechanics has become the latest tech advancement in online slot gameplay. Ways to Win slots and Megaways slots do not require pay lines. They use an adjacent reel technology to create symbol combination wins. Also, cluster pays and Pay Anywhere slots have broken into the online slots scene.
New or Improved Features Engaging Players
With the capabilities to create features that can use more RAM and processing speeds when features trigger, software providers are creating intense bonus slot features. Non-progressive jackpot games with re-spins are one of the new trends.
Bonus Buy slots outside the UK gaming industry allow players to skip spinning the reels and buy their way directly into the slot’s bonus games. With thousands of players hitting the bonus buy feature, the casino’s gaming servers are extremely busy.
Cloud Technology and High-Speed Internet Bandwidth
We have another hero in tech advancement to thank for the bonus buy feature. With so many players activating bonus buy features, gaming servers, and bandwidth strain increases. The solution to this issue is advanced cloud technology and high internet bandwidth availability, which allows casino gaming servers to easily balance the load so that a player’s gameplay is never interrupted by lag.
80% of Online Slots Contributed to the UK’s Remote GGY
Here is an interesting set of facts and figures from the UK online gambling market published by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
The authority is a goldmine for information pertaining to revenue information and a wealth of other industry stats. Now, you have to bear in mind that it takes around 6 months to a year for the UKGC to release its official stats, and these stats are regularly amended as new data flow in; however, if you have got this far reading about this topic, then the following stats should pique your interest.
We’ve taken some interesting statistics from the Industry Statistics – November 2023 published by the UKGC. From April 2022 to March 2023, the total GGY for online casino games in the UK was £4 billion. £3.2 billion came directly from online slots. That’s 80% of all revenue coming from online slots. These stats just go to show that online slots are still extremely popular. Therefore, it is fair to say that continuous innovation in slot gameplay, backed up by the evolution of technology, keeps the industry diverse and popular.